Bo as an adventurer

It's quite common for orphans to become adventurers (the job, not the class). Adventurers require no connections and no investment capital, although good equipment sure helps. A lot of orphans keep in touch with the orphanage after they leave. Some send money regularly, others help out at the orphanage or guide those that come of age.

Bo: I appreciate being able to join, but won't I just be dead weight?

everyone: you will

Helah: But that's okay... We're all orphans, so we need to stick together. Normal people will have a safety net when they start out as an adventurer. We all grew up in an orphanage and to us you are the closest thing we have to family. Besides, adventuring is dangerous, especially in the beginning.

Guilford: For the record, Adora and Adrian are both bronze as well.

Adrian: I am almost at the XCAP though!

Adora: You have been "almost at the XCAP" for as long as I've known you "though".

Adrian: I just need to get in some good hits, you'll see.

Bo: So Guilford, why did you say that adventurer is good AND bad at the same time?

Guilford: Normally it is only good, but for some odd reason, there are a LOT of new adventurers in Systemia.

{ Adventure! }

Adora: Ever wanted to know what an empty quest board looks like?

Adrian: Check the bronze rank board at the adventurers guild.

Adora: If your party is not at least silver, then times are really desperate.

Adrian: Even if you manage to find a quest, you'll probably get killed for the reward when you return.

Bo: Is it really that bad?

Adora: I considered stealing myself.

{ Oh shit! That's right! I keep forgetting to assign the thief class. }

Bo: Fuck that! That's just wrong.

Adora: That's what I thought as well, but your perspective changes really fast when you don't have a place to sleep and haven't had a real meal in over a week.

Adrian: You could of course join a suicide squad.

{ Those are so much fun! }

Bo: Suicide squad?

Adrian: Group of bronzes that take on a silver mission.

Adora: Since we've joined Guilford, we've seen the remains of more than one suicide squad meeting a party wipe.

Guilford: Listen up guys, we are going to traverse this forest road right up to Greyroot, so we can get a good rest at an inn. This forest is dangerous. With all of the bronze ranks around, you won't find anything weak. So if we get attacked, then shit will get real. Stay on guard.

everyone: Roger!

Helah: On the bright side, regarding what's great about adventurer, it's not so much about what specific skills you get, but more about the fact that adventurer gives you a spread, so that no matter what class you get, you will have complementary skills.

Bo: What happens when you get skills that don't complement your main class?

Adrian: Then you're fucked.

Guilford: Even if all the skills you get are shit, you still have 2 really good base skills that come with the class. "general basic weapons proficiency" and "night vision".

Helah: General basic weapons proficiency grants basic combat abilities with all weapon types. Now obviously a specialized combat class is more deadly than adventurer, but this is a foundational class. For a healer or scout with the adventurer class, this might be the only real combat abilities they have. It can be a boon for combat oriented classes as well. Most combat classes specialize in one weapon type (e.g. archer or pikeman). With adventurer, the combatant isn't completely helpless in a situation where the weapon of choice is unusable or simply not at hand.

Guilford: The "night vision" skill enables the class holder to see in the dark. This helps the party against ambushes of monsters or other adventurers. Regardless of the next class you get, one of these two is a complementary skill.

Bo: Ambushes by other adventurers? That should rarely happen though, right?

Guilford: That's how it used to be.

Adora: It happened often enough, to take it into consideration. You'd be surprised.

Helah: Luckily, we are already solid silver rank adventurers, so these new adventurers aren't a threat to us, but the job is hard on starting adventurers right now.

Adrian: Hell yeah! We can handle them!

Wanda: I'm looking forward to seeing you "handle" them Adrian.

Bo: I can see that complementary skills are useful, but isn't that what you have a party for?

Helah: An ideal party composition contains a mage, a healer, an archer, a scout and at least 2 warriors. It's rare to be able to get all bases covered though. In practice parties usually have at least 2 of the roles missing. The adventurer class can have one of the party members stand in for one or more missing roles.

Bo: I don't see an adventurer being a stand in for a mage...

Wanda: Did you know that the adventurer class can actually get a spell as a skill?

Bo: No shit?

Helah: Adora got a healing skill at level 15.

Bo: Neat!

Adora: Doesn't compare to a real healer though.

Helah: There are times where I am tapped out and also... what happens when I need healing?

Guilford: We try to avoid that situation, if at all possible.

Helah: Yeah, but still... It's nice to know I can get healing too, when I go down.

Bo: Hmm, but still, it's usefulness really depends on what skills you get. From what I heard, the class is really unpredictable.

Guilford: We used to have a party member that went from adventurer to warrior. The "general weapons proficiency" skill of the warrior class is a better version of the "general basic weapons proficiency" skill of adventurer. When he classed up, he got "general weapons proficiency - II", which is a real boon. General weapons proficiency skills are HARD to level up. It requires training with lots of weapons.

Bo: Interesting, I'd love to ask him about the skill.

Guilford: He's dead.

...

Bo: What happened?

Guilford: Adventuring is what happened. He was killing mantises with ease and got cocky. He didn't see the difference between a mantis worker and a mantis warrior. We tried to call him back, but he ignored the call. The warrior cleaved him right in half, armor and all.

Helah: Side note, if you want me to heal you, make sure you don't get cleaved in half, okay?

Bo: I'll try.

Helah: Pinky promise?

Guilford: *half whispering* Stop!

Adora: Probably another suicide squad. Why the vigilance?

Guilford: These bodies look fresh, there may be something out here.

Helah: Still warm, definitely just been killed. Here!

Bo catches a sling, thrown to him by Helah.

Helah: I still recommend getting a bow, but try this one out later. Since you already work with a slingshot, this might be more up your alley.

Adrian: *points* Somethings out there.

Guilford squints, trying to make out anything amongst the trees in the darkness, "Can anyone identify what it is? I don't have night vision."

Bo: Fast!

As the creature rushes towards them, Adora says: Whatever it is, we will find out soon!

Guilford: Stay sharp!

Adrian: Sabre wolf!

Guilford: *yells* Shit! Stay back everyone!

Guilford activates his taunt skill to ensure he's the one that is targeted.

While walking backwards, Bo fires his slingshot at the wolf that has two massive fangs hanging from its mouth. The fangs are longer and thicker than the dagger they'd given him when they'd set off. He knew he wouldn't stand a chance against this thing. Hopefully he could at least distract it. But it was of no avail. The wolf didn't even bother to change course, but merely deflected the rock on his fang without slowing down.

In a matter of seconds, the wolf was smashing its fangs on Guilford's shield. The 200KG of massive beast transfers its momentum to Guilford. He almost falls down, but manages to stabilize himself after stumbling back 3 steps. If not for the high stats granted by his guardian class, this would have been impossible.

Adora starts firing arrows using his bow. He aims at the heart. It's too agile to aim for the eyes, it's already shown that. Adora is not expecting to hit the heart. He is hoping the threat will distract the beast. The arrows strike true, but they don't penetrate the tough skin of the high level beast enough to hide the arrow head. Some arrows even bounce off.

Wanda has gotten far enough away to feel comfortable to start chanting a spell.

Guilford tries to slash his sword at the wolf, but before he has completed his motion, the wolf quickly circles around him, towards his shield hand side.

"It knows!", Helah yells. Indicating that the beast is more intelligent than a regular animal.

The moment taunt wears off, the wolf, that was fully focused on Guilford, jumps towards Adora and sends him flying with the swipe of a paw. Breaking Adora's ribs with the impact.

Guilford immediately activates another taunt. "I can only do this so many times!", he yells.

Adora is groaning on the floor. Helah sprints towards him to patch him up.

All of this happened in a matter of seconds, but it was already getting pretty clear to Guilford that there was only one thing that could change the inevitable outcome of this battle. And that one thing was magic. He needed to hold on long enough for Wanda to fire off something useful.

Bo jumped towards the wolf that had been taunted thrusting his dagger forward.

{ Get him Bo! }

But was sent flying by a kick from a back leg, before he makes contact.

{ Awww! }

Bo: Does this wolf have eyes in the back of its head!?!

Ice bullet! Wanda yells and releases a small rapid moving bullet of ice straight at the wolf's eyes. The wolf tilts its head up at an astonishing speed and the bullet passes straight through it's skull right below the eyes.

{ Go! Go! Super wolfie! }

You've got to be fucking kidding me! Wanda shouts as the wolf snarls.

Guilford: drown it!

Wanda: It's too fast! I can only freeze it to slow it, but you're too close!

Guilford: Do it! We don't have a choice!

Hold on for a bit! Wanda says, as she starts chanting.

Guilford and wolf are still at their cat and mouse game, where Guilford can only defend.

Bo struggles to get back to his feet. His body is aching all over, especially his back and his stomach. He makes another attempt at using his slingshot, but the wolf just lets the rock land on its pelt without a care in the world. I'm so fucking useless, he thinks. He wants to try the sling, but as he puts a rock in the sling, Helah yells: Don't! It's too risky to try a new weapon in the middle of a battle, before he heals him. There is nothing Bo can do in this battle other than stay out of the way.

Guilford faints an uncommitted attack with his sword and the moment he sees the wolf shift his weight, he activates the shield edge skill. Normally he would use shield bash, but this beast is too heavy and too fast. Imagine trying to shield bash a bear. The wolf slams right into the edge of the shield coming its way. Guilford comes in with his sword again, but this time the wolf jumps back instead.

Guilford: I guess that trick will only work once.

Frost zone! Wanda yells and the area containing Guilford and the wolf starts freezing.

Guilford feels the cold painfully creeping into his skin and his body starts reacting far more slowly than his mind is used to. Normally this would be a really bad idea, but hopefully now the others can at least hit the beast.

Adora, fully healed and well, starts firing arrows at the wolf's eyes and the cold is clearly taking a toll. He still can't hit the eyes, but now the arrows are striking right next to them and the amount of distraction this is causing is clearly visible.

Guilford, apart from the cold, has a visible easier time, now that the sabre wolf is being pressurized. He makes some attempts at dealing real damage, all of which fail. They still need a way to deal critical damage. He has to stay focused though. A small mistake can be fatal.

Bo also wants to apply pressure and tries his slingshot again, achieving little.

Guilford dances around with the wolf until Wanda yells out another spell name: Ice bolt!

A large chunk of ice flies towards the sabre wolf. Once again, the wolf moves as fast as it can, protecting it's vitals, but it no longer has the speed to avoid it completely and the wolf ends up getting impaled straight through. The chunk of ice stuck in his body. The tide of the battle shifts and Guilford starts getting hits in. The sabre wolf makes a few desperate last attempts, but Guilford is experienced enough to skillfully deflect them, finally killing the sabre wolf.

{ Fuck yeah! That's what I'm talking about! Adventure! }

Guilford stumbles out of the "frost zone", that was about to take him as a second victim and looks at the sabre wolf slowly freezing, with the arrows sticking out and a column of ice rising into the air from its abdomen.

Welcome to the Greyroot Pines everyone! Guilford yells while feigning being impervious.

In fact he feels as though he can go into shock from the cold at any moment.

Wanda: Getting cocky all of a sudden?

Guilford: I feel like I deserve to be cocky right now.

Wanda: Nah, that's what you have mages for!

Adrian: Fuck that wolf!

Wanda: Decided to show up after all?

Adrian: I'm sure my scouting skills would have made a huge difference in battle.

Wanda: Maybe time for I dunno... a bow, like Adora?

Adrian: I don't jive well with ranged weapons, just don't have the finesse.

Wanda: Or fighting in general?

Adrian: Or fighting in general. Guilford, did you want to bring the whole beast?

Guilford: It's too big. I can lift it, but I can't haul it all the way to Greyroot. Let's take the fur, the fangs and the best cuts of the meat. I'm not sure about the nails. Might be useful for something, might not.

Adrian: I'll take the nails just in case. The weight should be negligible compared to the fangs.

Bo: We're eating wolf?

Helah: You can't compare the two. Sabre wolf is a lot more tasty than regular wolf meat. Also you won't be able to sell regular wolf meat. So don't call it wolf in the village.

Bo: Okay, got it.

Guilford: And to imagine there were dozens of these in the dungeon.

Bo: There was a dungeon here?

Guilford: Or so the legend goes. Apparently, once upon a time there was a tier 4 dungeon in the Greyroot Pines. No one was able to clear the dungeon. So dungeon breaks kept occurring. One day, some powerful adventurers got annoyed at constantly being overrun by monsters. So they banded together and cleared the dungeon. They left without cleaning up the rest of the monsters though. So if you believe the legend, then all of the monsters in the Greyroot Pines are just leftovers from dungeon breaks.

Adora: Do you believe the legend?

Guilford: I dunno Adora. I just don't know. On the one hand, according to the adventurers guild, the amount of monster encounters has been declining over the years. Which would be in line with the legend. No dungeon means no new spawns. On the other hand, the adventurers guild has verified reports of platinum rank parties getting decimated while exploring further east. If the original dungeon contained a boss monster lording those ones, just how fricking powerful wouldn't the adventurer party that cleared the dungeon have to be? That's what I just can't wrap my head around.

Bo: Hold on! We're going to a place where platinum rank parties get decimated!?!